A study led by the University of Melbourne's U-Vet Werribee Animal Hospital found the consumption of raw chicken meat increased the risk of developing the paralysing condition acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN) by more than 70 times.

Dr. Matthias le Chevoir, chief investigator on the project said the cause of APN in dogs had baffled the veterinary community for a long time.

"It is a rare but very debilitating condition where the dog's hind legs first become weak and then may progress to affect the front legs, neck, head and face. Some dogs may die from the disease if their chest becomes paralysed," Dr. le Chevoir said.

"Most dogs eventually recover without treatment but it may take up to six months or more in some cases. It can be difficult for owners to nurse their pet until the condition gradually improves.

"A better understanding of this condition is therefore very important, so our team was really pleased to have discovered that consuming raw chicken necks is an important risk factor for developing APN."

Paralysis results from the dog's immune system becoming unregulated and attacking its own nerve roots, progressively worsening over several days.

APN is the canine counterpart of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in humans, a condition that also causes muscle weakness and may require ventilation if chest muscles are affected.

Dr. le Chevoir said the bacteria Campylobacter was now considered a triggering agent in up to 40 per cent of GBS patients, which is present in undercooked chicken, unpasteurised milk products and contaminated water.

"Our team at U-Vet Animal Hospital wanted to understand if consuming raw chicken could also be triggering APN in dogs. Many of our team have previously worked overseas and know that a raw meat diet is less common there, so were intrigued by this potential connection," Dr. le Chevoir said.

The team studied 27 dogs with symptoms of APN and 47 dogs without, examining physical symptoms and interviewing the owners about recent behaviours and diet; focusing on the consumption of raw chicken meat.

The study's lead author Dr. Lorena Martinez-Anton said that when they examined faecal samples collected within seven days of clinical signs of APN appearing, they were 9.4 times more likely to have had a Campylobacter infection than the control group without APN.

"We predict that the microbe Campylobacter is likely to be the reason for the dysregulation of the dog's immunity and therefore, the symptoms of paralysis," Dr. Martinez-Anton said.

"These bacteriological results were consistent with the hypothesis that the uncooked chicken meat was the source of the Campylobacter and as a result, triggered APN.

In humans, it is proposed that the Campylobacter bacteria, which is commonly isolated from commercial poultry products, contains molecules similar in structure to part of the nerve cell. This similarity confuses the immune system which attacks the body's own nerves, resulting in paralysis.

Drs Martinez and le Chevoir said the fact that raw meat consumption could trigger such dramatic disease is concerning as there currently appears to be a growing trend for feeding dogs raw meat diets.

"A significant association is also found between APN and smaller dog breeds. Based on our clinical experience this seems to be because smaller dogs are more likely to be fed smaller bones like chicken necks," the doctors said in the research paper.

"We would recommend that owners choose regular dog food rather than chicken necks until we know more about this debilitating condition."

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One has to wonder how about these studies. They studied a whole 27 dogs that showed the symptons and 47 dogs that didn't and arrived at a whopping 70% increased probability of contracting APN if a person feeds raw chicken. Give me a break! 70% higher probability of what number? .0001 maybe. I fed 300 lbs of raw chicken a month to more dogs than they had in their test for years and they were fine. I still feed the two I have raw chicken daily. Here is what my studies found.......your dogs are 100% more likely to die from eating any name brand dog food, pick one, that wasn't tested properly at the mill.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

hicntry wrote:One has to wonder how about these studies. They studied a whole 27 dogs that showed the symptons and 47 dogs that didn't and arrived at a whopping 70% increased probability of contracting APN if a person feeds raw chicken. Give me a break! 70% higher probability of what number? .0001 maybe. I fed 300 lbs of raw chicken a month to more dogs than they had in their test for years and they were fine. I still feed the two I have raw chicken daily. Here is what my studies found.......your dogs are 100% more likely to die from eating any name brand dog food, pick one, that wasn't tested properly at the mill.

Scientific Journalism, or Journalism about research, is usually such garbage, this is a great example.

If you read it critically, they've established a link between APN and Campylobacter. This isn't really surprising since the link has been well established as a triggering agent in Guillane-Barre, but it is good to know.

They've also established that raw chicken leads to an increase in Campylobacter infections. This is also worthwhile information, but not exactly earth shattering and I assume is well established anyway, though I could be wrong.

Then, the writer makes the flying leap towards chicken necks since smaller dogs seem more susceptible to APN/Campylobacter? That's where they lose me. Lots of other possibilities...Could it be something in smaller dogs that makes them more susceptible? They require a smaller bacterial load to get the infection? What about the neck, as opposed to the thigh or breast or heart or whatever, has more bacteria?

A vet or someone that majored in Food Science can weigh in on that one...what about Chicken necks has more bacteria?

I saw this article the other day before seeing it here too and thought it was funny that they say small dogs eat chicken necks.

I have 3 dogs, one is a real dog (PP), but the other two are 4 and 5lb yorkies. The 4lb dog crushes every part of a chicken, and she's 10 years old and missing a few teeth. I'm not sure how small the dog has to get before the only thing they can eat is the neck.